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Interview: Aniplex Inc. President Koichiro Natsume


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Divineking



Joined: 03 Jul 2010
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:15 pm Reply with quote
This is some pretty interesting information. I'd always kind of assumed the studio a distributor would pick would depend more on the actual budget of the show, but it's interesting that it's more on which studios the producers want to go for. Seems kind of odd that the broadcaster would be picked even before the show got full approval, but I guess with the kind of time restraints these projects seem to work under, it makes a fair deal of sense.

I also like that the answers to the questions about the NA market were much less robotic than with the AoA interview
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Kougeru



Joined: 13 May 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:21 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Lately Aniplex has been producing blu-rays in Japan with English subtitles, and you've been selling them in North America with adjusted prices.
Well, excluding subtitles I've actually found some of their shows to be CHEAPER to import than to buy from Aniplex USA. I'm surprised there wasn't a question outright asking why they feel the need to charge 2-4 times as much as everyone else in the US market does. It lowers their potential fanbase. High profit margin I guess? I love their anime, but I hate their US marketing strategy because us Midwesterners (us as in the people I know and myself, not every Midwesterner) cannot afford to spend several hundred dollars on 15 episodes and such.
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publicenemy333



Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 563
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:31 pm Reply with quote
the only reason they do well is that the small minority are willin to pay those ridiculous prices, which tells companies like aniplex that they can just get away with that instead of release them at regular N.A. prices, which screws over the rest of us. If this is done a few times, thats one thing, but I hope it doesnt happen to EVERY release like he wants, we are screwed.

Also, this is more personal for me and others who like dubs, but releases like this ensure we wont get a dub. Which is still a problem cause dubs help bring in new comers in who arent willing to read subtitles. Hell, some of Aniplex's releases woulda be ideal for a dub. But thats more personal.

Aniplex does have good releases, some of which I own, but good GOD they need to work on there prices.
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
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Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:41 pm Reply with quote
Be careful patting yourself on the back, it can hurt.

Like other NA consumers of Anime I am willing to pay for quality, but I am also quite price sensitive. The recent Aniplex / AoA offerings have been overpriced for my budget for the most part, not much else to say.

Time will tell.

Mark Gosdin
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omoikane



Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 494
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:42 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for the interview, especially the Anime no Chikara bit. Interesting spin...now I want to look up who produced those shows LOL.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:48 pm Reply with quote
I really hate Aniplex but I must admit, I respect anyone who is able to work the phrase "self-infatuated masturbation" into an interview. Japanese business formality be damned!
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:56 pm Reply with quote
Very interesting interview. I think Henry Goto (prez of AoA) could learn a ton about media relations from Koichiro-san. It was nice to see questions put to him that should have been asked of Goto (i.e. questions about how NA generally requires cheaper releases and fears of limiting sales to core market and not growing the fanbase).

It was great getting an insight into how the greenlight process works at Aniplex and how A-1 is working out.
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Tempest
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Joined: 29 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:00 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Very interesting interview. I think Henry Goto (prez of AoA) could learn a ton about media relations from Koichiro-san. It was nice to see questions put to him that should have been asked of Goto (i.e. questions about how NA generally requires cheaper releases and fears of limiting sales to core market and not growing the fanbase).

It was great getting an insight into how the greenlight process works at Aniplex and how A-1 is working out.


Henry was there for the interview and contributed to several of the answers.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:01 pm Reply with quote
Ah, did not know that. I assumed they were two separate interviews.
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Tempest
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:05 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Ah, did not know that. I assumed they were two separate interviews.


Well, the Interview with Goto that was posted a few weeks ago was a completely separate interview done at a different time & place.
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CruzMissile



Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Posts: 76
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:14 pm Reply with quote
I'm curious, if the interview was done at AX, how come it took until now to actually publish the interview? Was it a case of Aniplex needs to sign off on the interview, or keeping the interview back until there was a slow news period, or are there other factors at play here?
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superdry



Joined: 07 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:15 pm Reply with quote
Regarding BD releases in the US, I wonder if Koichiro Natsume finds Japan and US being in the same region a blessing or a curse.

Kougeru wrote:
Well, excluding subtitles I've actually found some of their shows to be CHEAPER to import than to buy from Aniplex USA.


For shows that aired on TV and excluding the direct imports, I find that hard to believe unless you're buying used or from a third-party reseller.

But, yes, it was possible to buy F/Z or GoS slightly cheaper directly from Japan including shipping if you kept an eye out on the exchange rate.


Last edited by superdry on Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Tempest
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:17 pm Reply with quote
CruzMissile wrote:
I'm curious, if the interview was done at AX, how come it took until now to actually publish the interview? Was it a case of Aniplex needs to sign off on the interview, or keeping the interview back until there was a slow news period, or are there other factors at play here?


I was just extremely busy and never had the time to edit it. When I finally did get it all ready for posting, (about a month ago), Zac already had a ton of material to post, so he delayed it for a while.

Aniplex had no access to the interview after it was recorded.

-t
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CruzMissile



Joined: 26 Nov 2007
Posts: 76
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:32 pm Reply with quote
Tempest wrote:
CruzMissile wrote:
I'm curious, if the interview was done at AX, how come it took until now to actually publish the interview? Was it a case of Aniplex needs to sign off on the interview, or keeping the interview back until there was a slow news period, or are there other factors at play here?


I was just extremely busy and never had the time to edit it. When I finally did get it all ready for posting, (about a month ago), Zac already had a ton of material to post, so he delayed it for a while.

Aniplex had no access to the interview after it was recorded.

-t


Ahh, good old backlog.

The interview itself had some interesting info regarding A-1 studios and their music labels, Aniplex would seem to have a pretty good pick of music if Sony has eight labels fighting over themselves to get one of their acts in an anime series.
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minakichan





PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:42 pm Reply with quote
Kougeru wrote:
Quote:
Lately Aniplex has been producing blu-rays in Japan with English subtitles, and you've been selling them in North America with adjusted prices.
Well, excluding subtitles I've actually found some of their shows to be CHEAPER to import than to buy from Aniplex USA. I'm surprised there wasn't a question outright asking why they feel the need to charge 2-4 times as much as everyone else in the US market does. It lowers their potential fanbase. High profit margin I guess? I love their anime, but I hate their US marketing strategy because us Midwesterners (us as in the people I know and myself, not every Midwesterner) cannot afford to spend several hundred dollars on 15 episodes and such.


Unfortunately, it apparently works, at least for now. I'd like to see stronger price discrimination, with one title having a super fancy initial release and a barebones release several years down the road, but if there aren't enough people buying even the cheap version, things will have to go more niche and more expensive... I'm really sad to hear that; I've already seen American comics go way too collector/niche and I'd rather that not happen more with anime.
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